Our legs are working surprisingly well after yesterday and we are going on the next stage, this time from Kurimka to Bardejov.
Three-dimensional coat of arms of Zborov
A beautiful addition to the route is Zborov Castle (to which there is a detour, that’s why we went to see it yesterday as part of active regeneration:) The oldest mentions of Zborov Castle, or also nicknamed Makovický Castle, come from the beginning of the 14th century.In the past, it was an important defensive castle.
The original royal Gothic castle did not initially have a large area. It consisted of a massive prismatic tower, a palace and an irregular courtyard, to which other buildings were added later. At a time when the country was preparing to defend itself against Ottoman aggression, this Gothic castle was rebuilt into a very modern Renaissance representative fortress with basic fortifications modeled after Italian architecture. The new owners renovated the oldest parts, expanded the living and farm premises and the walls. In addition to the reconstruction of the basic upper castle, they also rebuilt the second courtyard and added a third courtyard with a semicircular bastion, defensive wall and embrasures. The third courtyard was entered through an ingenious entrance gate on the southwest side with a drawbridge. The triple fortification system was supposed to prevent the castle from being raided and secure it against conquest even if the enemy occupied the entrance gate. However, it fell into disrepair from 1680, and its fate was sealed in 1914 by the fighting between the Russian army and the Austro-Hungarian army in the neighborhood of the village, which badly damaged the ruins of the castle. After the war, the castle continued to fall apart, and only ruins remained of the once majestic feudal residence.
Today, the walls and torso of the architecture have been preserved in the area of Zborovské hrad. In some places, embrasures, corner framing, window and door openings have been preserved in the walls. Since 2010, the castle has been undergoing revitalization works.
From Zborov we start to climb Stebnícka Magura, it is warm, the sun is shining and snowdrops are blooming in the forest. That’s beautiful, but bottled water runs out suspiciously quickly 🙂
At the top of Stebník Magura there is a wonderful lookout tower (to which an endless spiral staircase leads). The newly built observation tower resembles the so-called Berzewicz Tower built in 1905 on the same site, which was destroyed during the First World War in 1918, the replica tower reflects the original design.
Thirsty, we run down to the Bardejov spa, where after a while of wandering and searching we find mineral springs.
They are our salvation, we refill the bottles and set off along the spa promenade to the last hill that separates us from Bardejov.
